Catalonia's moment of truth arrives as Spain weighs response

The Catalan government’s determination to break from Spain faces its moment of truth, with the region’s president, Carles Puigdemont, risking immediate arrest if he goes too far down the path of independence.

 

Puigdemont is due to address the Catalan parliament in Barcelona on the outcome of an October 1 referendum ruled illegal by the Constitutional Court. While the president has said the majority who voted for full autonomy must be heeded, Spanish police are prepared to seize him if he makes a unilateral declaration of independence, according to two people familiar with the central government’s plans.

 

Tension was rising in Barcelona ahead of Tuesday’s address. The start of the speech, scheduled for 6 pm, was delayed for about an hour as parliamentary authorities met. News website Independiente reported that Puigdemont’s coalition ally had rejected the text of his speech.

 

Outside, Catalan police insisted that they are in charge of parliament’s security and its perimeter, and regional police vans were guarding the assembly’s main entrance. No final decision on action has yet been taken, but Spain’s National Police force has elite officers deployed in Catalonia who are prepared to join a raid if the Catalan police try to shield Puigdemont, said one of the people. Spanish stocks and bonds dropped amid the threat of a showdown.

 

With Puigdemont’s core supporters demanding he make good on the vote for independence, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has dismissed the ballot as meaningless and vowed to defend the unity of Spain using all means at his disposal.

 

“This is going to be a historical day regardless of the consequences,” Alejandro Quiroga, professor of Spanish history at the University of Newcastle, said by phone. “The tension has reached such a point that something has to happen and if the Catalan government wants to declare independence, now is the best time, while it’s still got international attention.”

 

With uncertainty over the outcome of Spain’s worst political crisis since the death of the dictator Francisco Franco, attention will focus on the form of words Puigdemont deploys.